Witch's Bell Book One

these bracelets were on – but something told her she just really didn't want to be in this car that long.
    But at the same time indecision reigned. It was a curious feeling – being pulled between the two poles of indistinct intuition, and cold rationality. Her logical mind told her there was nothing to worry about, while her feelings just tumbled around like a moth being shaken in a bottle. But rather than make a decision to stay, or to go, she just sat there.
    With a strange detachment, Ebony suddenly remembered a lesson her father had once taught her. There were three physiological responses to fear: fight, flight, and immobility. A bird that has been taken by a cat, but not yet killed, will lie still and stiff as if to appear dead. 'Humans do it too', her father had said, one hand on her hair as he'd walked her home from a particularly hard day at school. 'And not just around proper trauma', he'd added as he'd piled her into the car. 'Sometimes they just think themselves into a corner, like a trapped animal, and then give up.'
    That was what was happening now, Ebony realized with a jolt. Here she was, in a car that was hardly moving, with the perfect right to get out if she wanted to. There was nothing stopping her. The only thing preventing her from leaving was her new-found distrust of her feelings. She doubted them now – couldn't read them without her magic. So here she sat, feeling more uncomfortable at the situation, and more so at herself – when all she had to do was act.
    'In that case,' Ebony took a sudden breath, pulling her purse out of her bag, and checking the amount due on the little electronic display that sat above the dashboard. She carefully pulled out the exact amount and handed it to the man quickly. 'I'll just get out here then.'
    'What?' the man spluttered, slightly confused at her sudden decision.
    'I'll walk,' Ebony turned around, carefully checking the traffic around her before she opened the door. But with the traffic still in gridlock, she'd be safe for now. 'Thank you,' she said automatically as she pulled herself from the seat, and finally left the situation.
    The man muttered something as she left, but Ebony chose to blank him out, concentrating instead on crossing the four lanes of traffic to get to the side-walk on the other side. As she did, a strange sense passed over her. It felt like accomplishment, but came with an edge. It was more than just getting top marks in a quiz, or succeeding at tracking down the right criminal for the right case.
    It felt like Ebony had just learned something.
    The wind picked up slightly as Ebony finally mounted the curb, her hair fluttering gently over one shoulder. She might still have no idea how humans lived in their hazy mix of feelings, reason, doubt, and uncertainty – but at least she'd just had a breakthrough. As pathetic as it might sound, Ebony had just made a decision.
    'Hey, Ebony?' someone called from behind her.
    For a brief moment Ebony feared it was the cab driver coming to drag her back to his creepy car of awkwardness – but the voices were a world apart. While the cab driver sounded like rusted metal cracking under pressure, this voice sounded like -
    Ebony turned, a smile on her lips.
    Detective Nate walked up to her, head to the side. 'Shouldn't you be at work by now?' then he blinked, taking in her whole outfit. 'Or out clubbing with the cleaning ladies?'
    'I just got out of a cab. The guy was really creepy,' she said, very honestly. In fact, it might have been one of the most honest and direct things Ebony had ever said to Nate. And while she wasn't quite sure why she'd said it, Ebony didn't feel a flush of embarrassment, or the need to try and explain it away. She just stood there.
    Nate eventually nodded smoothly. 'Okay, that's a good excuse. You alright?'
    Ebony released the grip on her bag somewhat. 'Getting better. But now I have to walk to the police department,' she made a show of turning around to look up and down both directions of the street. 'But I don't actually know where it is.'
    Nate cocked an eyebrow, crossing his arms. The humor was there, but the sarcasm wasn't, yet. 'You've lived here your whole life, right?'
    'Not my whole life, but close enough.'
    'I've only been here a month and a bit, and apparently I already know the city better than you do,' he shrugged, smiling. 'I call that a win.'
    'It's a fairly mild win,' Ebony felt soft prickles of her usual humor returning, but they lacked the